Chinese artists keep pace with fight against corruption

"In the Name of People", adapted from a novel under the same title, was staged for the fourth time in the Poly Theatre in Beijing, on Saturday.

The play sheds light on Chinese politics and officialdom in the ongoing campaign against corruption. It follows a tense struggle among fictional provincial officials: the secretary of the political and legal affairs committee, the anti-corruption director of the procuratorate, and the chief of the public security department.

The novel "In the Name of People" by Zhou Meisen was published in January and drew an enormous amount of public attention as it discussed corruption at a senior level.

"We don't focus on the fact of corruption and the plot of investigation and punishment," says director Wang Xiaoying. "We highlight the complicated and subtle emotional activities and personality conflicts between criminals and corruption fighters, exposing the internal virtue and vice of characters gradually."

Hunan Satellite TV is to broadcast its own drama of "In the Name of People", also authored by Zhou Meisen. Co-produced by the Film and TV Center of the Supreme People's Procuratorate of China, it is set to air at the end of March.

Costing 120 million yuan (about 17.4 million U.S. dollars) and comprising 55 episodes, it will be the first Chinese screen production to focus on the war against graft since regulatory authorities ordered in 2004 that dramas involving corruption and violent crime should not be broadcast in prime time on satellite channels.

"The TV play took almost two years to prepare and shoot, and more than 40 well-known actors appeared in it," says director Li Lu. "The audience can discern the resolution of the Party and nation in fighting corruption. The investment came from five private film and TV companies, and satellite TV stations above provincial level purchased the play for 220 million yuan (about 31.8 million U.S. dollars), which shows the confidence of the market."

As many as 11 other TV plays set amid the anti-corruption campaign were submitted to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television before 2016, but they are still waiting to be broadcast.